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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                Melissa Barrera              Chris Elliott               Zach Lee
                Christian Palmer             Blake Whitaker       Kristen Young

Students deserve better than one-sided politics 

An alumni group at the University of California, Los Angeles is offering cash -- up to $100 per class -- to students who tape their professors expressing left-wing political views, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The group, The Bruin Alumni Association, also has a list on its Web site of the 30 "most radical professors." Those cited by the organization are up in arms, calling it "McCarthyism" and "propaganda."

There are inherent problems with recording a professor's class, and UCLA officials have already addressed those by saying they will warn BAA that selling copies of a lecture is against campus policy and raises copyright issues. On the other hand, as much as it sounds like the association is paying students to snitch on their teachers, there is nothing wrong with knowing what political views a professor espouses during class time.

There are already several Web sites -- some free and others with a small fee -- that allow students to critique the teaching styles of their professors and view the critiques of others. The only difference here is the focus is on a specific element of teaching style.

As students, we deserve as much information on prospective professors as we can get without invading their privacy. They are not entitled to privacy in the classroom; scrutiny is to be expected in a room full of one's customers. That analysis ensures students are able to get the most out of the hard-earned money spent on a college education. 

Whether a professor votes Democrat or Republican really doesn't matter in the classroom; that they teach the material, not push an agenda, does matter. A professor's political beliefs rarely need to be made public in class, and should never be presented in a manner that stifles discussion of opposing ideas.

The Bruin Alumni Association is one-sided in its approach, and students who rely on the organization for information would do well to remember that, but information is information. Any professor worried that students would not take his or her class because of politically charged lectures should step down off his or her soapbox and teach.